Ancient history

Shias wiped out in Pakistan

At the time of the creation of Pakistan, the Shia population in Pakistan was about 35 percent, but in 2019 it was estimated to be 10 to 15 percent. Shia-Muslims are the largest minority community in Pakistan. Shia Muslims are also divided into different groups. Most of the Shias belong to the Tawelwar community. Apart from these, there are also a good number of Ismaili, Khoja and Bohra communities. Most of the Tavelwar Shias belong to the Hajra tribe.

They are concentrated in Quetta and surrounding areas and their number in Quetta is about 7 lakhs. Out of every 10 Shia Muslims killed in terror attacks, 5 belong to the Hajra community. The anti-Shia movement in Pakistan started after the Iranian revolution about 34 years ago. Sunni fundamentalists demand that Shias also be declared infidels. Due to the bloody struggle of the separatists, areas like Kurram, Parachinar and Hangu have become the graveyards of Shias. The Shia neighborhoods of Karachi have almost been converted into forts. Suicide bombers carrying gunpowder cars enter Abbas Town and other Shia-dominated towns, and a large number of Shiite bodies are visible.

Between 1980 and 1985, during the government of General Zia-ul-Haq, there was a renewed Islamization of Pakistan and radical organizations like Sipah-e-Sahba got the opportunity to spread. Sipah-e-Sahaba started attacks on the people of Shia sect since its existence. To counter Sunni extremists, Shias formed an organization called Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqah-Jafriya, but since then bloody attacks on Shias started, which continue till now. Most of the terrorist organizations in Pakistan are Sunni Muslims.

All these organizations keep taking some violent action against the Shias. Taliban, Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi 'Deobandi Muslim' Those who want to wipe out the existence of Shias. In 2011, a terrorist organization called Lashkar-e-Jhangvi threatened Shia Muslims of Pakistan that all Shia Muslims of Pakistan would be put to death and Pakistan would become their graveyard. Since then, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has been continuously carrying out violent actions on the religious places of Shia. Panic is spread every year by carrying out major attacks on Shias so that Shias leave their homes in fear and gather in one place.

More than 125 Shias were murdered in AD 2012. In 2013, about 200 people from the Shia-Hazara-community were killed in Balochistan. On 10 January 2013, two blasts in Quetta killed 115 people, most of them 'Hazara Shia' Were. Within a month of this incident, 89 Shias were killed in the Kairani Road blast. It is estimated that more than 2,000 Shia Muslims were killed in bombings from 2013 to 2016 and millions of Shias were forced to flee Sunni-dominated areas.

Government jobs and facilities for Shias in Pakistan have also been gradually reduced. In the year 2018, some terrorists wearing military uniform stopped four buses going from Rawalpindi to Gilgit and killed 46 people with Shia names like Abbas or Jafri. The massacre of Hazara Shias in Mastung and Quetta has been repeated many times in many places in Pakistan.